FanHouse HumbertoSanchez

This is the best and the worst time of year for Dugouts. The trade deadline looms and we'll get a chance to cover a lot of teams we don't normally cover. At the same time, the newsmakers of baseball start making news, and most of the time that involves a steady stream of unbelievable stories from the Yankees and the Red Sox. I want to do more Pirates Dugouts, but nobody in Pittsburgh just had their marriage broken up by a random assemblance of pop musicians. Nobody from the Pirates ran up a wall and high-fived a guy.

We've been sitting on this for a few days, waiting for the logical "oh THIS is what really happened" to come along. It just... isn't coming along. So today we attempt to handle this from an educated, even-handed perspective.

Today's Dugout, which should've just been about the Royals again, is after the jump.

When we say that Miguel Cabrera is available, we're not just making things up: no sir, the Yankees and Marlins are having legitimate conversations about the young third baseman. From Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News:

Brian Cashman met with the Marlins at about 6 p.m. last night at the GM meetings. No offers were made, but a source with knowledge of the situation said the Marlins made it clear that the Yankees would have to include either Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain or Ian Kennedy in any trade for Cabrera, something the Yankees are not willing to do.
...
"The Marlins have evidently let it be known that he's available, so we're looking into it," Hank Steinbrenner said. "But everything is really very preliminary."

If the Yankees won't deal Huge, Joba or Kennedy, who is available? According to this report, some combination of Alan Horne, Humberto Sanchez, Ross Ohlendorf and Jose Tabata will likely be offered. None of those guys have the name value of New York's top three pitching prospects but are still highly regarded in their own right.

Getting Cabrera would obviously not fill a hole for New York at third base, it'd reunite Joe Girardi with his star player from their lone year together in Florida. That may or may not have any bearing on whether the Yankees actually pull the trigger, but you have to figure Girardi's glowing reports ("I had him and I know what he did for me. He's a great player and a smart player.") would only make a deal more likely.

Previously on FanHouse:
Make Your Bid for Miguel Cabrera Now!
Who Will Be the Next Yankees Third Baseman?